File photo of cattle on Prince Edward Island. (COSPV/iStock/Getty Images)

P.E.I. to manage deadstock removal

Reading Time: < 1 minute Prince Edward Island’s latest provincial operating budget calls for its agriculture and land department to directly manage removal of deadstock for dairy and beef cattle producers. Finance Minister Darlene Compton’s 2019-20 operating budget, presented Tuesday, said the province will take over management of the deadstock contract “to reduce the administrative burden placed on the dairy […] Read more

Rain gives farmers relief, for now, from three-year drought

Rain gives farmers relief, for now, from three-year drought

Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters — With drought turning Chad Ross’s pastures brown, the southeastern Saskatchewan rancher sent 140 head of cattle to slaughter earlier than usual this spring, as the Prairies’ three-year drought made them too expensive to feed. The ranch and feedlot near Estevan has lost money two straight years. Long-awaited rains that swept the […] Read more





CME August 2019 lean hogs with Bollinger (20,2) bands, a gauge of market volatility. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hog futures limit down on supply glut

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Hefty supplies of American pigs pushed Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures down by the daily exchange-imposed limit on Friday. Prices tumbled as the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that meat companies such as Tyson Foods and JBS USA slaughtered 462,000 hogs, up nine per cent from a year earlier. […] Read more



CME August 2019 lean hogs with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs up on bargain buying

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures closed higher on Wednesday in light bargain-buying after last week’s slide to three-month lows, but soft cash markets and ample hog supplies hung over the market and limited rallies, traders said. CME July lean hog futures settled up 0.15 cent at 81.625 cents/lb. and […] Read more

CME October 2019 live cattle, with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle closed mixed

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures closed mixed on Tuesday, with expectations for a weak cash trade pressuring the benchmark August contract while back months ended firm, traders said. Packers were not bidding aggressively for cattle, a factor that some traders took as a bearish signal. “The bids that were out […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Feeder market shrugs off feed grain rally

Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian feeder cattle prices were $2-$5 higher on average. Noted strength was in the 700-plus-lb. categories, which spilt over into the lighter calves. Quality groups of yearlings were limited and the scarcity fear factor had a grip on the market. The U.S. Department of Agriculture lowered its fourth-quarter beef production […] Read more